A Summer in Resonance: 2007

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Coming soon. Last night with Kaaren and Dan in Gunboat passage.

5:36 a.m. August 5, Foggy morning in St. John's

Forgot! We left St. Johns early so that we'd have plenty of water to get through the narrow passages. But its so foggy, we can hardly see. Kaaren and Dan kept watch for rocks and reefs.

12:06 p.m., August 5, Kaaren's fish

We asked Kaaren to hold the pole for a minute and what do you know! She got a fish! Dan made a lovely BBQ salmon and we caught 4 keeper crabs in an hour and had them all for dinner too! Great last meal to end a great trip!

3: 55 p.m., August 4, Heading into St. John's Harbor

So this is what its like to sail in the open ocean! Nothing between us and Hawaii. Waves are crashing on the island, where we wind our way through narrow channels to a safe harbor.

10:58 a.m., August 4, Pretty and secure Morehouse Bay

Yesterday we sailed and fished. Caught a salmon but he was too small, though legal and we let him go. Now we'll poke our nose out in the open ocean and see if we can make it to a harbor on the West Coast!

12:25 a.m., August 3, Roscoe Inlet Prawns

Oh Boy! Prawns tonight. Kaaren and Dan pulled up prawns the size of lobsters. Hey, is that Kaaren pulling their little heads off?

10:46 a.m., August 3, Back down Roscoe Inlet

Steep cliffs meet the ocean at Roscoe Inlet. Dan tries to touch the cliff from the boat. He's close but fluky currents cause Rick to veer away. Dan pointed out a number of petroglyphs on the cliffs drawn by First Nations people who have lived in the area for 10,000 years.

5:42 p.m., August 2, Roscoe Inlet

We decided to push through to the bitter end of Roscoe Inlet. I have never been in a more beautiful and isloated place.

11:00 a.m., August 3, Rick and Dan explore

Ian McAllister told Rick and Dan where to find an ancient fish trap, made out of stone. He pointed out a Grizzly Bear made path leading to a lake. The guys set out to see what they could see. I'll add pictures later. Exploring the wilderness was one of the great highlights of the week! Good thing that bear stayed clear. Dan and Rick were not afraid. Sharl and Kaaren stayed on the boat, thank you.

9:45 a.m. August 2, Kaaren and Dan catch their first crab

Kaaren and Dan set the crab pot. They got a huge Dungeness!

4:45 p.m., August 1, Troop Narrows-unnamed anchorage

Oh my goodnes!!! We drop anchor and soon after another boat appears, picking up crab pots. We watch, seeing if they have good luck here. Soon they approach and we barter Kaaren's famous oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for some prawns. As we pass the bag of cookies we learn that Ian McAllister is on the SOHA! Ian is our hero. Meeting him is absolutely incredible. That's him in the yellow shirt. He's so young to have done so much! To find out why he's wonderful, check the link Raincoast Conservation Foundation.

1:57 p.m., August 1, Dan and Kaaren arrive in New Bella Bella

Here are Dan and Kaaren at last! The plane was a bit late and the First Nations people who run the fuel dock came back from lunch to find us still waiting at the gas dock. With our water tanks freshly filled we are ready to head out to the wilderness.

11:45 p.m. July 30, Prawn stop

We pulled up 350 ft of line to find 67 prawns in our trap! We threw back the small ones and ate all of the remaining 57 bugs for lunch and dinner. A little cocktail sauce and viola' a wonderful meal!

10:35 a.m., July 30, Rainy days in Troop Inlet

We spent a rainy few days at "Anniversary Cove" in Troop Narrows, waiting for our new windlass to arrive in Shearwater. Will it EVER stop raining?

Thursday, July 26, 2007

11:40 a.m. July 26, Bilge repair

Rick has taken matters into his own hands, literally. He's repairing our bilge pump, ensuring that Resonance won't sink if we develop a leak or hit a rock, which seems to happen a lot around here.

11:12 a.m., July 26, Shearwater Marina

Shearwater is home away from home. On Denny Island, halfway to Alaska it has everything the boater needs to survive. The largest building is the pub! We toured a 76 ton commercial fishing boat hours before it was dropped from a sling during haul out. Rick got into trouble with the ship's captain as he traded a micky of vodka for a 25 Lb salmon with one of the fishing crew. The mate got drunk (not Rick's fault) and caused a ruckus. Everyone here, it seems, has a boating problem and the marine store and mechanics can fix anything. We are waiting delivery of a new windlass as we are tired and scared of freefalling our anchor. Nice pub here and all the necessities of life (once the barge comes in on tuesday) Can't drink the water and Its not our fault that the best place to use internet is the pub.

10:22 a.m., July 23, Uncharted Rocks

Rick winds his way through the uncharted rocks around Hunter Island.

10:00 p.m., July 24, Salmon Dinner!!

Sharl caught dinner. It was tough going. After two hits that took her bait, she finally pulls in a fish but ah oh, the line broke. Luckily, Rick found the sinker caught on the outboard motor. Sharl reeled in the line by hand while Rick got the net ready, but then, oh no! The hook comes up but no fish. Rick looked down and the dumb fish had fallen right into his net! Its only a 5 lb Pink, but he'll do.

9:30 a.m., July 24, Lovely and truly "Fancy Cove"

The most beautiful anchorage in the world. And the sun is breaking through! I left out Frypan bay, where we stayed July 23, cause its just more rain.

4:25 p.m. July 21, Duncanby Resort

Don't stay here! Guests pay $3,000 per night. Those are the cottages on the left. They don't heat the lodge (on the right), not even in cold rainy weather. Internet costs $20 per day for each computer. We used the electricity all day but when it was time to shell out $100 for moorage we skeedattled!

11:00 a.m., July 20, Duncanby Landing

We spent a wild night in Goosebay as the storm passed through. Wind gusts of 45 km spun the boat around the anchor. Sharl forced Rick to wake up about 5:30 a.m. out of great fear of the howling wind, which you could hear approaching through the trees. This photo is not a black and white image. That's just how everything looks.

12:32 p.m., July 20, 'Round Dreaded Cape Caution

We left Skull Cove early, to go around Cape Caution, where many a worthy sailor has met terrible seas! A storm is fast approaching and we want a safe harbor. We sailed around the Cape, it was so calm we stopped to do a little fishing! No luck with fish but good luck with the Cape.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

2:25 p.m. July 19, Port MacNeill to Skull Cove

After Andy and Dave left the rains came. We stayed in Port MacNeill a few days, doing laundry, reprovisioning. We sailed all the way across Queen Charlotte Straights in the rain with a mild wind to our starboard quarter. Spotted whales but that's not unusual. Easy sail. Sharl sat inside, out of the rain, and finished knitting up the front of Rick's sweater while Rick single handed the sailing. See the article "Beyond Nakwakto Rapids". Next year we would like to take the kids into this area and into the Belize Inlet!

3:07 p.m., July 13, Last sail to Port McNeill

Heading to Port McNeill so Andy and Dave can catch a seaplane back to Seattle. Dave was able to keep our tacks at 75 degrees (most tacks average around 90 degrees). Nice trip guys. Come anytime!

11:15 a.m. July 13, Pretty Joe Cove

Dave found beautiful Joe Cove. We could hardly leave this tranquil place. Spent hours exploring the shore.

10:00 a.m., July 12, Blunden Harbor crab fisherpeople

We enjoyed prawns for dinner at Tracy Harbor, where we spent the night. We require our guests to work onboard ship. We placed crab pots in Blunden Harbor on arrival. Happily Dave and Andy have found enough crabs for tonight's dinner in Joe Cove. Lots of Dungeness Crab tonight! Blunden Harbor always gives us a good feast.

3:20 p.m. July 9, Prawns!

Good thing Rick and I set the prawn trap before going into Greenway. We have enough prawns for our first dinner with A & D. Rick will show Andy how to decapitate the tasty darlings.

12:02 p.m. July 9, 2007, Andy and Dave arrive on time

Oh Boy! Andy and Dave arrive by seaplane and are ready to go. Let the adventure begin! I wish I'd been able to buy a few more provisions. All we have is a pound of ground beef and a lot of cheese. We'll have to catch our dinner or eat beans and macaroni.

Sunday, July 8, 2007

10:22 a.m., July 8, Greenway Sound, Broughton Island

Greenway Sound Marina, at the north end of Broughton Island, is an old favorite. Great restaurant, which requires reservations days in advance, all the water and necessities for continuing adventure. We are moored up next to the floatplane dock, where our friends, Andy and Dave are scheduled to arrive tomorrow at noon. We'll see . . . By the way, Greenway is for sale, if you are Canadian. See the link, Greenway Sound Marine Resort.

4:40 p.m., July 6, Charlotte kicks up!

Oh Boy! After a great sail in Johnstone Straight, we hit the Queen Charlotte Straight. We had planned to sail straight across to Wells Passage but rising winds hitting 25 knots drove us into retreat, literally, into Retreat Passage! We sought a safe anchorage at Waddington Bay in Bonwick Island, but this is the first time we've ever seen white caps in an anchorage. Rick set the anchor alarm. By morning the little primeval bay was quiet and the water inky smooth.

7:30 a.m., July 6, Facing the dreaded Johnstone Straight

After three wonderful days at Shoal Bay, Rick and I gathered in the crab pot for the last time, deposted four nice keepers into Mark's crab hotel, and pulled up anchor. Rick had calculated just the right starting time to make it safely through the Greene Point Rapids and the Whirlpool Rapids. Winds were building, and we could see white caps in Sunderland Channel, which, they say, if Sunderland has white caps, its blowing like stink in Johnstone Straight. Hearing a report of "gale force winds" in Johnstone Straight, we decided to pull into Forward Harbor and wait for morning, when the winds are sure to die down. Rick had to ask another "mad anchorer" to pull up anchor up and move but otherwise we had a peaceful evening. We woke at 5:45 and were underway by 6:00 a.m. to avoid the dreaded winds of Johnstone Straight. It was wild at the throat of Sunderland but then we had a fantastic sail, using only the gib, all the way to the Queen Charlotte Straight. We heard via VHF that our mad anchoring neighbor wouldn't leave Forward Harbor for fear of the wind and waves in the Straight. Had he dared, he would have found Johnstone quite tame.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

8:40 p.m. July 2, Coming back to Shoal Bay and the view from the pub

If there is a more wonderful place on Earth, neither Rick nor I know where it is. Want to enjoy it too? Click on "Wonderful Diary of Marc MacDonald" under Links of Interest.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

3:55 p.m., June 30 Art display Cortes Island

Instead of flags, this is the wind sock display of a local Cortes resident. If ever you long for the 60's, Cortes is your place!

12:48 p.m., June 30 Doh!—Market open on Fridays not Saturdays

Well, we blew it. The market is on Friday, not Saturday. We'll just have to be happy with the wild raspberries we find along the road.

10:34 a.m., June 30 Biking to Cortes Market

Can't wait to return the Cortes outdoor market at Manson's Landing, where we had great pie and bought local llama wool last year. Rick must first assemble our bikes, which we store at the bottom of the locker and bring ashore by dingy. Lots of work but worth the trouble, we hope.

7:15 p.m., June 29 Wild ride to Cortes Island!

Rick battled a grumpy sea for hours. We made good time anyway, with a strong wind pushing us from behind the whole day . . . Always look for the rainbow after the storm.

Saturday, June 30, 2007

11:55 a.m. June 29, Sandy Island Forest

Can't imagine that such a tiny Island can have so many different environments. Couldn't capture the beauty of the trees. . . UH OH! Is the tide coming in early? Gotta run save the dingy or we'll be stranded!

11:05 a.m., June 29: Handsome boy in Sandy Island Meadow

Sandy Island is an amazing marine park. It has everything! Beaches, meadows, and a forest of wonderful old pine. Native Canadians used to call it tree island. You can find shell middens here, where the shells from their eating of oysters, clams, and muscels have made fine white beaches. This deer didn't seem to mind us getting quite close. I was close enough to see the fuz on his antlers! The meadow was full of wildflowers and we ate some sea aspargus growing in abundance at the tide line.

10:30 a.m., June 29 Visit to Sandy Island Marine Park

We took the dingy from Henry Bay, around the point and landed on Sandy Island, which is connected to Denman, but only when the tide is out. The tide is out now and we are walking along oyster beds that will flood again, when the tide comes in about noon today. We'll have to hurry if we want to see the island and get back to the dingy before the bar floods again!